The Bird
by nightDREAMERms
Summary: When Tenten was first assigned to Might Gai’s team, she felt a little more than “out of place”... Can a mission, a forest, and one hilariously evil bird fix this? NejiTen


NightDREAMERms: Hi peeps

NightDREAMERms: Hi peeps! I know I should be doing Late Revenge right now… but I just found one of my old works and couldn't help myself! I re-read it, and it's surprisingly pretty good. Of course there will be a few changes to it here and there, but all in all, I think it's hilarious. Another first-timer; This is a Neji-Ten. How exactly did they first interact?

* * *

When Tenten was first assigned to Might Gai's team, she felt a little more than "out of place". For starters, Lee, although nice, was a train-aholic; her sensei being the very one to supply him with the incorrigible drinks.

Speaking of Gai-sensei, he wore a green jumpsuit.

Green _spandex _jumpsuit.

Enough said.

The two were practically inseparable; Always doing one kind of extreme workout or another. Good, one might think. Her teammate was taking his role as a ninja seriously as was her sensei as a teacher. But the extent they took it to, was …well… disturbing to say the least. When you hug _your_ teacher does a sunset appear behind you? Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised if in the next few months Lee cut his hair to a bowl-cut style, bought a new outfit, and started singing about "Youthfulness". He already had the eyebrows for it.

The fourth and final member of her team, was Neji Hyuuga. She could've known this solely from his reputation. He had been the rookie of their year, top of the class. He had been trained in Hyuuga-style martial arts, and even started creating a couple of his own attacks in secret.

Actually, she wasn't really _supposed_ to know that last part. Just as none of the girls in her class were _supposed_ to know about her itty-bitty(teeny-tiny, really) "crush" on said Hyuuga. And they weren't _supposed_ to know that when they announced her right after his during team listing, she **purposely** flung that kunai towards the "Neji Hyuuga Fan Club" section of the classroom.

It had been a self-defensive warning, though. That specific club was notorious for being almost psychotic when it came to females hanging around their "Chosen One". And she was just physically telling them not to mess with her.

Supposively.

Anyways, the fact that she did know didn't make her a stalker. No, no that was a title only for referring to rabid fangirls. She just happened to be walking by the empty training grounds one day, when she tripped over a root that subsequently sent her spiraling through a genjutsu that he had apparently set up to block others from viewing his techniques.

She only stayed to watch for a minute!

Or two.

Nonetheless, that had been the birth of her so-called crush. Really, it should be shortened to _admiration_. His abilities had been amazing. Every move smooth, fluent; calculated and harsh at the same time. Sometimes, defending against trick wires as if he had eyes at the back of his head!

She, herself didn't excel very well in taijutsu. Weaponry was her thing. She came from a long line of wielders and craftsmen and enjoyed the process of making the fighting tools almost as much as using them.

The combination of her lack of taijustu skills, mediocre genjutsu, and excellent weapon control were what probably forced her onto her mismatched team. As everyone knows, the top of the class (Neji), bottom of the class (Lee, who could not mold chakra), and middle of the class were always placed together.

Their first meeting, had been a little _tense_ one could say. She had arrived second to the designated meeting spot and had chirped a cheerful morning "Hello!" to him. He had swerved his head and studied her for a moment, sending her into a brief state of confusion, before turning back without a word. Of course once realizing she'd been snubbed, she had placed her hands on her hips and glared a severe 'Well.'. Luckily enough, Lee and his limit-less energy had popped up moments later and she was able to sit with the boy as a body barrier.

Ever since then, things had remained that way: Content with the three or four of them, awkward with just the two. And wasn't like she was even holding a grudge from that day! He was just being a snob.

To his honor, they'd only been a team for less than a week.

But that didn't make him a complete jerk!

Back on track, today she had been ordered to scout out the forest around the hidden village. Gai-sensei had said it was important for ninja to know their surroundings like the back of their hand, especially for patrol duty a.k.a. the "mission". Psh. That was what _chunnins _were for. Inwardly, she believed he had really just wanted to train Lee one-on-one.

But she couldn't complain all that much; she loved the forest. Ever since she was six years old, her relatives had begun sending her out, usually supervised, into the wilderness in search of metals and wood for their work. Thus, she had already become accustomed to many things other kunoichi would have to learn to be accustomed to; Such as blood, dirt, grime, and bugs. She hadn't had a chance to actually explore this particular part of the woods in a long time thanks to both academy work and kunoichi classes (Never again, would she walk in those heels. _Never_ again). So the prospect of surveying it gave her a slight giddy feeling. Sadly, most of that giddy feeling wore off as she learned just who would be accompanying her.

"I _hate_ the buddy system." Tenten grumbled to herself.

"You're not alone." Retorted shortly, the elder Hyuuga. His silky chocolate-colored hair was pulled back into a clan, low, ponytail that swished casually from left to right as he walked a few steps ahead of her. The stiffness of his posture told her he was annoyed as well.

'Hey-Wait! What's _his_ issue?' She scowled at his back. She, unlike him, had been completely welcoming from day one! … He probably thought of her as dead weight to the team. Fine.

If that's the way he wants it.

"That's the problem." She murmured under her breath, crossing her arms. She was positive he heard it anyway.

Currently, they were scouting out the third trail that lead away from the designated training ground. Until then, the hike had been quiet. Not awkwardly quiet, that much alone surprised Tenten, but… peaceful? No. That wasn't the right word. Orderly? Yeah, that would have to do.

Though, Tenten was starting to get a little more than ticked off that she had to walk two steps behind him. Worst, he didn't trust anything she said! Whenever she found something of interest or suspicion he's brush it off as common trash or nothing at all. The latest discarded observation had been something that shimmered like water. He had replied it was just a plastic bag that had sunlight reflecting off of it. He didn't know! He didn't even _look_!

"Girl, kindly stop glaring daggers into the back of my head." He uttered abruptly, not pausing a second in his step.

'_Girl?_' She stopped startled, then glared even harder. "I'm not glaring!"

"Yes, you are." He replied, confidence practically ringing in his tone.

"Oh! How would _you_ know! You haven't looked back at me once!" she responded angrily, crossing her arms.

"I can sense you without having to."

Tenten mouthed his words right back at him, using zealous faces, of course.

"And now you're mocking me."

Ugh, why does he have to be so… Correct!

Tenten stepped on a twig lying in the middle of the dirt path with an extra hard stomp, savoring the 'Crunch'. "I can "sense" you too! I know for a fact that you're smirking right now!"

If anything the sudden strain followed by relaxation of his neck screamed that she was right on the money. Her grin broadened.

"Gir-" He stopped himself with an exasperated sigh, turning to her for the first time that day. "Listen, tell me your full name so I can stop calling you 'Girl'."

Tenten shot him a disbelieving look. He stared blankly back. Waiting.

…Is he _serious_?!

Gai-sensei had freaking called her name during introductions! Hadn't he been listening at all? Even so, she had been in his class for _years_. The intellectual should have picked up on it at least _once_, during roll call.

The brunette bit back an insult-filled reply. "It's Tenten."

He continued staring, as if saying "go-on".

"That's it, Tenten."

For the first time _ever_, the bunned girl saw the Hyuuga look confused. "Tenten? You have no surname?"

She blinked.

She had a mom, but her father was missing indefinitely from her life. When she was younger she had always introduced herself as such. No one had ever _said_ anything about it and it was natural for her. But come to think of it, why _didn't _she have a last name? Heck, she should have her mom's at least, right?!

She could only respond with a slight puzzled, "Umm… yeah, that's right."

"…That's weird." He stated starting to turn forward once again.

"You're weird!" Tenten shot back, albeit, immaturely, turning the opposite way.

"Th-"

Silence.

Surprised by his lack of retort and movement, she turned back to him only to stifle a giggle.

There stood an eye-twitching, vein-throbbing Neji. Glaring at a mix of yellow, white, and brown seated on his right shoulder.

Yes! Let it be known to the world! Some random bird just _crapped _on Neji Hyuuga! Karma _is_ alive!

The perturbed teenager looked up to see a very odd-looking feathered creature looking back down on him innocently from about fifteen feet above.

It wiggled it's hind feathers in greeting.

By now, she was doubled over in laughter.

Smitten with anger, Neji, in a very un-Hyuuga, caveman-instinct, fashion picked and hurled the nearest object, which happened to be a dirt clod, at the winged animal.

The clod hit the branch of the tree the bird was resting on, spraying a cloud of dust all around and sending the bird squawking off into the distance.

"Yeah, you better run." Neji declared bitterly, before moving his glare to the brunette.

"Okay--okay! I'm good!" She said, straightening herself and wiping away tears of mirth. For a split-second, she had been a bit worried the ninja would shoot a kunai at the poor thing. But Gai-sensei had requested they focus on their surroundings, and bringing weapons on this strictly observation mission would distract them. Which, she had to admit, was true enough in accordance to her.

Neji simply cast his unhappy stare to the side, effectively shielding the light pink spots on his cheeks from her and began walking.

Tenten followed for a record-breaking _seventeen_ seconds before he stopped once again. This time, however, she walked straight into his back. "What _now_?" She inquired, agitated.

When he didn't answer her, she side-stepped him and looked ahead. She couldn't hold back her gasp. In the middle of the forest, or edge, it mattered how you looked at it, lay a meadow. But what caught her attention was the pond in the center of it. Or rather, spring in the middle. A _hot_ spring. Curiosity got the better of her and she rapidly approached the stone-lined water. She dipped two fingers, experimentally. She was right. Amazing, that someone else hadn't already found it. Or maybe, it was someone else's private spring.

"Hey, Neji-san!" She called over the steam-filled pool. "It's a-" she cut herself off as she noticed his attention was elsewhere.

Tenten followed his line of sight to an area about six-feet away from the pond. Perched on a tree only four and a half feet tall, was the odd-looking bird from before.

She could of sworn she heard the Hyuuga growl. Inwardly, she urged the poor bird to flee.

Neji took a step forward. The bird cocked its head at him.

He took another step. The bird turned its attention towards Tenten.

On his fourth step, the bird hopped off its branch and flew…. Straights towards her!

Startled, Tenten held out her arm, to have it latch right onto it. Upon, further inspection, the bird was a shimmery mix of blues, reds, and purples. Its beak was relatively small and its claws weren't as sharp as she thought they were. She was sure, she'd never seen his species in Konoha before. All in all, it reminded her of an overgrown hummingbird.

"Give it to me."

The male's voice brought her out of her thoughts. Instinctively, she clutched her arm and the bird, which surprisingly did not do anything in retaliation. "No!"

Neji glared _hard _with his practically pupil-less eyes. Harder than he ever had to her before. "I said; Give. It. To. Me."

Tenten sighed, getting up from her squat near the pond. She turned a took a step toward him. "Okay-NOT!" Instantly, she was faced the opposite way and running in that direction.

It took the prodigy two full seconds to understand that he just got faked out before he ran full speed after her.

By that time Tenten was quite a way away. She turned to look behind her to see the enemy gaining on her. Unfortunately, during this moment her foot hit an overgrown root. Deep within her mind, something told her that this was vaguely familiar.

* * *

Groaning, Tenten lifted herself off the ground, after checking to make sure her little friend was okay. She felt eyes glowering down on her and a hand near her face. Confused, she looked up.

Yep, there was Neji and he was indeed glowering but… she stared at the hand. Did he want her to give him her pet? Or…was he actually _offering_ to help her up?

Hesitantly, she slipped her palm in his and he noiselessly pulled her up to a standing position.

Wow, that was a definite improvement on his part.

He stuck his hand out once more, this time however it was obvious he wanted the bird.

Tenten almost let out a snort, if he thought that _one_ nice gesture would get her to surrender the bird and disregard her own morals towards animals, he had another thing coming.

She quickly executed an about face and lifted her left arm in the air. "Fly free, little bird! FLY FREE!"

The bird seemed to understand this message for it leaped into the air and soared out of sight.

Tenten dropped to her knees and drew a great sigh of relief. No innocent blood would be spilt today.

"Tenten"

She perked up marginally. This was the first time, he'd ever used her name. "Yeah?"

"Run."

Ah, she had spoken a tad too soon.

* * *

Unknown to the pair, when the bird disappeared out of sight, it had literally disappeared with an audible "Pop!". The hot spring also fizzled before blinking out of existence. Now, here, stood a completely barren meadow.

Silence.

"Umm… did it work, Gai-sensei?"

"Yes! Just look at the speeds as which they are running! They're bursting with energy and youth!"

"Then…our plan has succeeded Gai-sensei!"

"Of course it has, Lee, my pupil, for we are full of youthfulness! Now, who is next on our unyouthful list of youth-needing people?"

"I believe it is, Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei!"

"Okay! Ready when you are Lee!"

"Spreading youth wherever it is needed!"

"Gai!"

"Lee!"

"_Youthfulness_…. GO!"

* * *

"Ohh, _gross_."

"What's the deal _now_, Secondhand-smoke-_sama_?"

"Some bird just shitted on me!"

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